Tokyo Woes is a 1945 cartoon short produced for the US Navy, made as part of the short lived Mr. Hook series and directed by an uncredited Bob Clampett.
The film has a Japanese radio station, "Tokyo Rose", broadcasting anti-American propaganda and encouraging servicemen not to bother with war bonds. On a nearby battleship, Mr. Hook is going through his War Bonds when he hears the broadcast. Enraged, he responds with a missile shell containing a reply from a "talking bond," along with a number of explosive devices. Post-war, another shell lands on Hook, this time containing what is known as the "talking bond" giving all the benefits to his investments.
Tropes:
- Asian Buck Teeth: The Japanese characters are drawn with these.
- Asian Speekee Engrish: The Japanese characters talk like this.
- Deliberately Monochrome: While Bob Clampett's cartoons had upgraded to color by this point, the film was shot in black and white to save on time and money.
- Distracted by the Sexy: When Mr. Hook returns to America at the end, he chases his new wife.
- Money Mauling: Seaman Hook bombards Tokyo Rose with war bonds that explode like artillery shells.
- Public Domain Animation: The cartoon was produced for the government and was never copyrighted as a result.
- Toilet Humour: Tokyo Rose's reveal has her sitting on a toilet in an outhouse hidden behind several doors and curtains.
- Tokyo Rose: Tokyo Rose is broadcasting anti-American propaganda and encouraging servicemen not to bother with war bonds.
- Wartime Cartoon: The cartoon was released at the tail end of World War II, was only screened for the Navy and has subject matter directly related to the war.
- Yellow Peril: The Japanese characters in the cartoon are depicted as villainous personalities and are given a very grotesque and racist caricaturing as a result.
